Lebedev buys 'Independent' newspapers

Alexander Lebedev has bought The Independent and The Independent on Sunday from Independent News & Media (INM).

The Russian billionaire, who purchased London daily the Evening Standard last January, acquired the newspapers for a nominal sum of £1, The Guardian reports.

Under the terms of the deal, INM will pay Lebedev's new Independent Print Limited (IPL) £9.25 million over the next ten months in exchange for IPL assuming "all future trading liabilities and obligations".

Negotiations for the titles have reportedly been ongoing since this time last year and have involved the newspapers' managing director and editor-in-chief Simon Kelner.

Lebedev becomes the fourth owner of the newspapers, following a consortium led by founders Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds; Mirror Group Newspapers; and INM.

There has been speculation that Lebedev could turn The Independent into a freesheet after taking the Evening Standard free last October, though it is believed that Lebedev and his son Evgeny told Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a recent meeting that they would not do so.